Chapter 379: Rainy Night Operation

How's it?

Man Er saw his wife La Ling return, instantly sprang from his chair, hurried over, and asked in a low, urgent voice.

La Ling's proud smile was barely restrained; she shut the door with a flip of her hand, leaned close to Man Er's ear, and quickly recounted everything that had just happened in the side room—especially how Luoer had suspected her, forced her to drink honey water, how she dealt with it, and finally left in anger.

"…This man is very cautious," La Ling pursed her lips, then a cunning and fierce expression appeared on her face.

"But luckily I'm clever! I placed the medicine the Village Chief gave into the female giant's cup alone! Only the bottom of her cup got a bit of it. The two men's cups are clean."

Greed and the thrill of imminent success flashed in her eyes: "As long as the female giant faints, losing her greatest support, those two men who rely on her protection, hum…"

She didn't finish, but the meaning was obvious.

Man Er, after hearing, was overjoyed and couldn't help but lift La Ling in his arms, spin several times on the spot, and laugh in a low voice:

"Good! That's great! My woman is amazing! Hahaha!"

He seemed to already see a Golden Light future: "Once we get the money off them, we'll go to the city and buy the prettiest, most expensive clothes for you and the children! We'll have a good life too!"

La Ling, spun dizzy by him, couldn't help but show a hint of shyness, and gently patted his shoulder:

"Alright, alright, put me down quickly. The children are still sleeping next door; don't wake them."

Man Er only then set her down; the two exchanged a glance, each seeing in the other's eyes a hunger for wealth and the excitement of impending action.

"Let's go report to the Village Chief," La Ling said, smoothing her somewhat disheveled hair.

Man Er nodded, and the two pushed the door open again, braving the increasingly dense raindrops, and hurried toward the house at the village center where the Village Chief was.

They pushed the door open, and the dozen or so eyes waiting inside instantly turned to look.

The elder seated at the head, his half‑closed eyes flashing with sharp light, asked directly:

"How's the situation?"

Man Er and La Ling hurriedly recounted the matter again, emphasizing that the medicine had successfully been placed in the female giant's cup, and that Yu Lin and the other two might now be lowering their guard.

The elder, after listening, showed a hint of satisfaction on his wrinkled face and slowly uttered two words:

"Very good."

Then he fell silent, merely closing his eyes slightly, his fingers lightly tapping his knee as if waiting for something.

The room was silent, save for the increasingly Frenzy thunder and rain outside, sounding like a legion of horses galloping, like the prelude to an apocalyptic flood that seemed ready to drown and wash away the whole world.

Time passed slowly under the suppression.

The crackling of the sunlight tree branches burning on the table was almost completely drowned out by the deafening downpour outside.

Finally—

"Boom—!!!"

An unprecedented, sky‑rending thunderclap boomed at close range! Even the ground seemed to tremble for a moment.

Just as the thunder's echo faded, the elder who had been keeping his eyes closed suddenly opened them.

His eyes shone terrifyingly in the dimness, showing no sign of old age.

He stood up, moving so smoothly it didn't look like an old man.

He walked to the wall, picked up a heavy‑bladed Long Sword leaning against it, weighed it briefly, then turned to face all the villagers inside, who were holding their breath, eyes fierce.

His voice was low but ice‑cold and bone‑sharp, clearly reaching everyone's ears:

"Make your moves clean."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd like a steel scraper, lingering a moment longer on the faces of a few usually reckless, fierce men.

"If anyone makes a mistake…" he didn't finish the threat, but the cold, cruel implication made everyone shiver.

Having finished, the elder no longer looked at anyone, was the first to fling the door open, and stepped without hesitation into the torrent outside, a rain pouring as if endless.

The cold rain instantly soaked his graying hair and coarse cloth, but he paid no mind, gripping the Long Sword tightly, striding forward toward the side room at the village's edge that glowed with a faint fire.

Behind him, Man Er, La Ling, and all the villagers inside, inflamed by greed and driven by violence, each silently grabbed whatever weapons were at hand and followed.

Like a pack of hyenas prowling in a rainy night, they merged into the boundless darkness and clamor.

"Yu Lin, what did you just mean?"

Luoer, lying on the crude bed and about to close his eyes to sleep, suddenly sat up, scratched the back of his head, looked at Yu Lin sitting quietly by the fire, and asked with puzzled eyes, "What 'no need to apologize'?"

Clearly, he had been completely fooled by La Ling's angry performance of being wronged, and a trace of guilt still lingered in his heart, preventing him from thinking deeper or darker.

The dancing flames cast Yu Lin's face in shifting light and shadow, throwing wavering shadows on his calm visage, making him appear more profound and inscrutable than usual.

He didn't answer Luoer's question directly, but instead tossed out another seemingly unrelated question:

"Luoer, if someone comes to kill you, but has never struck you, and tells you that there are young children or elderly parents waiting for him at home."

Yu Lin's voice sounded especially clear amid the rain and crackling fire.

"Then he kneels before you, begging for mercy, weeping, saying he acted in a moment of folly, forced and helpless, pleading you to spare his life."

"Would you let him go?"

Luoer was taken aback by the sudden question.

He furrowed his brows, a look of serious contemplation appearing on his face, his fingers unconsciously tugging at the grass mat beneath him.

After a long while, he slowly shook his head, his tone uncertain and a hint of bewilderment:

"I… I don't know. It's hard to answer."

He tried to articulate: "It depends on the exact situation. Did I offend him first, hurt him, and he seeks revenge? Or is he attacking for no reason, merely coveting my money or seeing me as weak?"

"If it's the former… perhaps I'd consider it. If it's the latter…"

Luoer's eyes grew cold: "If he kills without cause, such a guy, how trustworthy is his plea for mercy? If we spare him, will he come back? Or kill other weaker people?"

He paused, then sighed helplessly: "It's difficult… really hard to say. Without being in the situation, no one knows what they'd choose."

However, after Yu Lin's question, Luoer finally detached from his guilt toward La Ling and keenly sensed something was off.

He looked at Yu Lin and retorted, "Yu Lin, you suddenly asked me this… does this household have a problem?"

Yu Lin gave a slight nod, but his gaze didn't meet him; instead it turned to the simple wooden window rattling in the wind and rain, as if through that thin barrier he could see the black rainy night outside.

They've arrived.